Safety rubber heel.



No- 839,886- PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907. B-G. PERKINS.

SAFETY RUBBER HEEL.

ArPLIcATIoN FILED JULY 10. 1906,.

WITNESSES: 11v VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELBERT G. PERKINS, OF VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO A. R. POLSKY, OF VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY RUBBER HEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 1, 1907.-

To all whom it may (flu/worn:

Be it known that I, ELBERT G. PERKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vallejo, in the county of Solano and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements ,in Safety Rubber Heels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rubber heels; and the object of the invention is to provide a cheap and simple improvement in rubber heels for preventing the slipping of the same ppon a wet sidewalk or other slippery surace.

The improvement may also be applied to the sole of the shoe.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of the heel. Fig. 2 is an enlar 'ed bott om plan view of a portion thereof. I ig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the rubber heel, which is attached in the usual manner by nails 2 to the leather heel 3 of the shoe. Embedded in said rubber heel are a suitable number of safety-studs 4, having flat heads v5, located at about the center of the thickness of the rubber heel, although the depth at which they are embedded may vary, according to the required conditions. The lower ends of these studs extend to the plane of the bottom of the heel, and both for convenience in molding and to render the studs more effective in preventing slipping the bottom surface of the heel is formed with shallow recesses 6 around the ends ofthe studs. The effect of this construction is that when unusual pressure is placed upon. the heel, and particularly at the commencement of a slipping motion of the heel upon the pavement the studs themselves then project.

slightly below the bottom surface of the heel and by their engagement with the surface of. the pavement or other floor arrest the slipping movement. Notwithstanding this, partly because of the thickness of the rubber around the studs and partly because of the thickness resting upon the top of the studs, the heel is not deprived of its elasticit Hence. by this construction there are ob tained all the advantages of a cushioning rubber heel, while avoiding the objection heretofore raised thereto of its tendency to slip on a Wet smooth surface.

While I have for the purpose of illustration shown the studs as five in 'number and arranged in a curve following the curved contour of the heel, itis to be well understood that the number and specific arrangement of the studs form no part of my present invention; but the studs may be provided in any number and in any desired or preferred arrangement.

While the invention is primarily intended I for rubber heels, it may also be used with advantage in rubber soles.

I claim A shoe-bottom providedwith a pluralit of rigid studs suitably arranged therein, t eir lower ends extending downward to terminate in substantially the same plane as the lowermost surface of the shoe and being sufiiciently small to prevent slipping by their engagement with the surface'upon which the shoe rests, and the lowermost surface of the shoe having shallow concavities around the lower ends of the respective studs, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELBERT G. PERKINS. Witnesses FRANCIS M. WRIGHT, B. NAGGS. 

